Ensoniq ESQ-1

Similar to the Mirage synth/sampler, the
ESQ-1 was Ensoniq's highly affordable and impressive digital
synthesizer, released in 1986. Although the waveforms are digital in nature, the filters
are all analog as on the Mirage. In fact,
for a digital synth the ESQ-1 has many good old analog-synth features
such as a ring modulator, sequencer, and oscillator-sync. The envelopes
and LFOs are can be freely routed to each DCO, VCA and or VCF. There are
40 preset sounds which are the usual not-so-great sounds. Luckily the
VFD display screen is large enough to make editing the sounds somewhat
pleasant.

What really sets the ESQ-1 apart from other similar synths is the voice
architecture. Choose from analog, digital, or samples or any combo since
there are three independent oscillators per voice! Once you start
editing on the ESQ-1 you will come up with interesting and unique
results. Using dynamic voice allocation it can seemlesly switch from
8-voices of analog to 8-voices of digital or sampled voices! This gives
you a wide array of different sonic elements at your fingertips!

Then there's its built-in sequencer. It can store up to 24,000 notes in
30 sequences and 10 songs via battery back-up. Anyone in search of an
alternative synthesizer should consider the ESQ-1. More analog than a DX-7 or D-50 and also much cheaper, the ESQ-1 is
a tasty option that is worth a try.

The ESQ-M
(pictured above) is a rack-mount version released in 1987 which is identical to the ESQ-1 except
that it excludes the on-board sequencer option. The ESQ-synths have been used by
Anything Box, Skinny Puppy, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Steve Roach.

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